GB Railfreight revives Western Consort on repainted Class 69
GB Railfreight Class 69 locomotive to be repainted by Arlington Fleet Services at Eastleigh Works has emerged in British Railways maroon and named Western Consort, in tribute to the former Western Region Class 52 diesel-hydraulic Western locomotives.
After completion of the work on its conversion to a Class 69 by Progress Rail at Longport, 69009 spent last autumn working railhead treatment trains for GBRF, although it and classmate 69010 were operated in undercoat due to their utilisation on the RHTT workings. However, 69009 moved to Eastleigh on January 31 for repainting by AFS.
The maroon livery with small yellow panels is reminiscent of the original colours carried by many of the Class 52 Westerns when they were first built in the early 1960s. Cast nameplates and numbers have also been applied in the same style as was carried by the Westerns. The reason the Western Consort name previously carried by long-scrapped D1065 was chosen is due to the Western being a personal favourite of GBRF chief executive officer John Smith.
In addition to 69009, GBRF have repainted several of its Class 69s into Br-inspired colour schemes, with 69002 Bob Tiller CM&EE carrying Large Logo blue, 69004 in Research Department blue and red, 69005 Eastleigh in BR green, and 69007 Richard Trevithick finished in BR blue. The remaining Class 69s to have been painted so far – 69001/003/006/008 – are all finished in GBRF’S corporate orange and dark blue livery, with dark blue whiskers painted on the cab fronts. 69011 moved to Eastleigh for repainting on March 13, with 69010 still operating in undercoat and due to be repainted in the near future. A further five Class 56s are currently at Longport undergoing conversion work to re-engineer them as Class 69s, with the GBRF fleet expected to total 16 locomotives when the project is completed.